Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/614658
The Art of Manliness Continued JOBS for TEAMS | 18 www.jobsfor teams.com worked for us. Ramsey recommends creating a $1,000 emergency fund be- fore you start paying down your debt. That way, you can use this small cush- ion for emergency expenses, instead of adding debt by using your credit card. You'd be surprised how easy it is to scrape together $1,000 in savings, even if your income is pretty marginal. When I was in law school, Kate and I were just barely getting by with our two part-time jobs, but we managed to save $1,000 in two months through a combination of cutting expenses and selling stuff on eBay and Amazon. In short, sacrifice and hustle. Once you pay down your high-in- terest consumer debt, you can set the goal of having 3-6 months of basic living expenses in your emergency fund. At this point, the fund is de- signed to cover a fall into a variety of temporary financial straits, including losing your job. Pay down your debt. The easiest way to increase your net worth is to simply eliminate any debt from your balance sheets. Again, the beauty of focusing on paying off your debt is that your ability to do so isn't entirely dependent on your income. You can al- ways find ways to save a bit more and pay down that nut. When Kate and I were in aggressive debt demolishing mode, we pretty much ate spaghetti and cheap frozen pizzas for dinner every night. My breakfast and lunch was usually a peanut butter sandwich. We rarely went out to eat or bought new clothes. The money that we saved went directly to paying down our debt, and after a few years of sacrifice, we paid it all off and finally had a posi- tive net worth. I know for some of you, the idea of paying off your debt in a few years seems downright impossible. But it can be done. I know folks who had over six figures of credit card and student loan debt who paid it all off within five years without a six-figure salary. They just saved like crazy, found ways to earn extra money through side hustles, and funneled all that extra money into getting in the black. What about your mortgage? If you have one, you don't need to pay it off as fast as possible. But when you consider that, on average, your mortgage interest payments will tack an additional 100% or more to your loan value, it's beneficial over the long run to pay less interest to the bank. You can cut your payments in half by following this bit of advice from the The Banker's Secret: The next time you write your monthly mortgage check, write a second check for the principal- only portion of next month's payment. In many cases, doing this can allow you to pay off a 30-year mortgage in 15 years. Start investing in index funds. Once you demolish your debt, start focusing on increasing your net worth through investing. When you're invest- ing for wealth, you want to think long-term. You're not trying to make a quick buck through day-trading. Besides being super risky, that sort of "gambling" takes a lot of work and know-how. The average Joe with a day job and family simply doesn't have time for that. That's why I recommend